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The post-WoW world of MMOGs has given
rise to a couple of
disturbing trends, the foremost of which is that the subscription
numbers a triple-A
title needs to retain after launch has increased to nearly unachievable
levels.
The second phenomenon, tied closely to the first, is that gamers are
now
expecting these numbers regardless of the goals the game’s developers
and
investors may have set. This leads to players abandoning ship and
trashing some
perfectly good games when they can’t replicate the success of the
bloated
Blizzard behemoth. The way this artificial inflation in numbers has
corrupted an
industry that used to view 250,000 subscribers as respectable is
reminiscent of
the recent housing crisis.



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No sex in the champagne room? 

Luckily, for those of us who would
prefer a meal created by
a local chef to the bland and corporate fare served by national chains
that
judge their servers by the pieces of flare they wear, many developers
are
fighting for their games rather than simply pulling the plug. The
strategy that
seems to be working best for many companies is to remove the
subscription
barrier and allow players open access to try out and explore these
worlds.
Vogster has taken this approach with its third-person shooter themed
MMOG, CrimeCraft. If you are new
to our site, or new to
CrimeCraft, I must insist that you
read Benjamin J. De la
Durantaye’s initial
review of
the game
. Besides being a great primer, you simply won’t find
a better read
than one of his articles.
Ben’s review included several concerns as
well as a
bit of forecasting about the changes the developers had planned at the
time.
Several months have passed, and CrimeCraft
has had time to stabilize, grow and implement those changes
as well as some
new ones. When I sat down with Kevin Ballentine and Casey Dickinson
from
Vogster to explore the current state of the game, I did so with these
issues in
mind.


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Ordering a round.

Like Ben, I found CrimeCraft’s
graphics to be slick and easy on the eyes, with smooth
gameplay and no
latency or lag issues. But I also shared his and other players’
frustration over
the unintuitive UI--it is as unlike a standard MMOG interface as any
you are
likely to encounter. It’s in this area, however, that the first
improvements in
CrimeCraft’s player experience have
been made. The tutorial has been improved and expanded, giving you
adequate
time and practice to master the inner workings of the various menus and
interfaces.
I would still personally prefer a different style of interface, but
that’s my personal
preference and not necessarily an indictment against what’s currently
in place.




I didn’t play CrimeCraft
at the stage when our first review was penned so I’m unsure whether the
mission
selection process was revamped completely or just better explained by
the new
tutorial, but either way the concern of queuing into the wrong scenario
for
your current mission has been resolved. It is now clearly noted whether
the
game type you are entering holds any objectives for you. This is one of
the
longer tutorials I have played in recent memory, but I have to thank
the guys
at Vogster for their insistence that I run it to completion before
setting me
loose to wreak havoc.


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Aiming to Misbehave.

CrimeCraft may
not
look like it has all of the pieces that make up your run of the mill
MMOG but
rest assured, they are all present. PvE questing, a bustling player
driven
economy, tradeskills, avatar advancement and PvP are all well
represented, with
PvP being the real meat of the game. As a former Unreal
Tournament
addict I know all too well the allure of
leaderboards, tournaments and bragging rights, all of which are
seamlessly
integrated here. During mission play you can see a leaderboard for
players of
your level and there is also a ranking system which is determined by
your kill
vs. death ratio, level, weapons, equipped items and boosts. In town you
can
view a leaderboard and tournament bracket results for the daily team
tournaments. This is one of the additions I could tell had received a
lot of
time and consideration, and based on its popularity with the community,
it was effort
well spent.




During my tour of the game we ran
several scenarios, most of
which were PvE based and showed off the speed and power of the combat
system
well. After being abused for a couple matches I rebound my hotkeys, got
some
good advice and started feeling less the hunted and more like the
hunter. Pointing
the barrel end at the enemies really helped (thanks for the tip Casey.)
Moving
on to PvP is where I really found what I was looking for. I mentioned
earlier
my obsession with UT, the game that almost flunked me out of college.
What I
didn’t tell you was that it was the last FPS I played once I tripped
over EQ. I
had forgotten the thrill of strapping on a sidearm and blasting the
virtual
brains out of an enemy who wasn’t computer controlled. The marriage of
this FPS-style
action with the complexity offered in MMOGs is a great
combination.

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This isn't your dad's shooter.


Community is a pillar that will hold
a game up through all
sorts of adversity, and it is with this aspect that I see the most
potential
growth in CrimeCraft. Gangs form
the
base of this pillar and the additions that Vogster has implemented
reinforced the
power of strength in numbers. Gangs can now own and operate their own
clubs,
where they can gather and meet to watch scantily clad females dance on
poles,
sell top end boosts (in the form of beverages from a bartender), listen
to
blaring music or get a private lap dance. Top end gangs, those who can
craft
the best boosts, can post a hefty cover charge for the ability to
access these
stat-increasing elixirs. Gang leaders can now challenge other gangs to
a war
for bragging rights and cash. Imagine settling a beef with a rival
guild in
your current game in this fashion. (Okay, now try imaging it without
that grin
on your face.) With even more plans in the works on how to strengthen
gangs,
this layer of the game will become the one that gives CrimeCraft
the most bang for the buck.

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Gang Clubs add an extra layer
of depth to CrimeCraft.



Value is one area that I was most
interested in and
concerned with. In my writings here at Ten Ton Hammer I focus mainly on
the
free-to-play community and the games that make it up. One of my biggest
barometers for long term playability is the tenet that no item that
directly
impacts gameplay should be available solely in the cash shop. On the
flip side
of that, I also believe that players should be able to buy worthwhile
and
interesting items to help customize and personalize their characters.
While CrimeCraft shares these
goals, they
haven’t fleshed out the cash shop completely yet. While we washed the
blood off
our hands from our sanguine tour of Sunset City the talk quickly turned
to the
itemization plans and, based on that conversation, my biggest worry
about the
game was assuaged. Kevin was even good enough to forward me over a
written plan
of what the future holds and I want to share that with you:



Since
CrimeCraft has moved to a true Free to Play model, we have been
planning to implement a more extensive Black Market/Real Money Economy
where players can choose greater options for character and game play
for Gold Bars.  All items that are sold for Gold Bars in the
Black Market can also be earned in game play through crafting and loot
drops. Features that are sold for Gold Bars supplement the game play
experience but are not critical or necessary to enjoying the core
features of the game.

One
feature sold for Gold Bars will be Pre-Sets. These are additional paper
dolls, allowing multiple builds on the same character. A player could
have a separate build for PVE and PVP, or for tournaments vs. everyday
gaming. Players will be able to purchase a pre-set directly from the
paper doll UI. This additional paper doll can be customized down to
clothes, weapons, AUGs, Attachments, Abilities and Boosts. Players with
presets are also given the ability to respawn as a different preset any
time they die, allowing players to tactfully change their load-out to
meet the changing demands of a battle.

We’ll
also be selling the ability to remove Attachments and Weapon
Modification Kits. Currently, players can remove these from their
weapons, but the Attachment/WMK is destroyed in the process. From the
Black Market Vendor, these can be removed with destroying the
Attachment/WMK. Even better, players will be able to purchase Premium
Weapon Repairs that completely restore the item and increase item
durability back to its original value.

The
Black Market vendor also will sell ingredient packs in each tier for
all of the crafting professions. These packs will include five
ingredients at tier 1 up to eight ingredients at tier 4. To really
crank up the crafting, players will be able to purchase craft recipes
and even a second crafting profession for their characters.

We
will also continue to expand the way we are handling the cosmetic
clothing purchases. We’ll be rolling out a variety of new clothing
styles and a revised rolling availability for items that will make sure
we are able to continuously add new content and new styles to the game
while meeting our demanding technical goals for quality. Clothing
styles will cycle through the game monthly with some items being
Limited Edition to ensure that players will truly have their own unique
style.

All
Rarity 2 and 3 AUGs, weapons, clothes, attachments, ammo and boosts
will also be available for Gold Bar purchase through the Black Market.
Players will be able to craft these items and sell them on the Pawn
Shop (Auction House) giving buyers the option to support their local
crafter via in-game currency or buy directly off the Black Market for
Gold Bars.

Our
players have asked for more options on how to expand their game play
experience and these changes should exceed expectations. We’ll continue
to look for innovative ways to add to the game, whether through free
content updates or through the continued addition of optional features
that will only appeal to the hardcore player. Our goal is to make
CrimeCraft a fun experience for ALL players with customized content for
players who want it.



Keep in mind that these plans are
still in a testing stage
and are subject to change, but based on Vogster’s track record of
implementing nearly
every planned addition to date, I doubt this is an empty
promise. With
the the current additions alone taken into consideration, the game has
improved
by leaps and bounds over the version that shipped.

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Lapdances start out racy and
get more risque.

Mature gamers who enjoy gunplay,
crafting, loads of
competitive banter and half-naked gyrating bodies will easily find a
home here.
The only concern I have is that our inherent lack of patience as gamers
may cause
those folks who have formed a strong connection with their avatar to
grow
frustrated as they wait for more vanity items and more customization
than is
currently available. CrimeCraft is
still evolving and coming into its own, but with the implementation of
a stronger
item shop and a bit of patience on the part of the playerbase this
should be
one more franchise to add to the growing example of high quality
subscriptionless games.


To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our CrimeCraft Game Page.

Last Updated: Mar 29, 2016

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